AC Milan loss sends Juventus back on top
(sportsnetwork.com)
Updated: 2005-04-18 08:59

Juventus regained the Serie A lead Sunday when it easily defeated Lecce at the Delle Alpi Stadium and AC Milan lost on the road against Siena.

AC Milan's Ukrainian forward Andriy Shevchenko reacts at the end of their Italian serie A football match against Siena. Siena won 2-1.[AFP]

AC Milan had the lead coming into the day due to goal differential. But Juve, which had been atop the table for most of the season, exploded for five goals in a 5-2 win over Lecce.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was a nightmare for the poor Lecce defense, as he notched a hat trick to increase his season total to 15. Stephen Appiah and Pavel Nedved also added goal in the rout.

The Bianconeri actually were trailing in its match, if only for a few minutes. Mirko Vucinic scored for the Giallorossi in the seventh minute to give the visitors an early 1-0 lead, but Appiah answered just nine minutes later and Ibrahimovic took over after that. Ibrahimovic scored twice just before halftime and once more in the second half to send Juve back on top of the league table.

Juventus must now begin preparations for a difficult midweek matchup with Inter Milan.

AC Milan, fresh off advancing to the Champions League semifinals despite its derby match against Inter getting suspended due to fan behavior, lost 2-1 to a Siena team that is struggling to avoid relegation.

Hernan Crespo scored the first goal of the game just minute in, but the Rossoneri were uncharacteristically unable to hold the lead. Enrico Chiesa and Francesco Cozza scored late in the second half to drop AC Milan into second place.

"Siena profited from its chances, we didn't," Rossoneri defender Cafu said. "It's a pity because we didn't play badly. We wanted to win the game at all costs and Siena's second goal caught us out. We have to bounce back, the championship is still long and the battle with Juventus is not over yet."

Inter returned to the site of the midweek embarrassment and put all the controversy aside. The Nerazzurri went on to post a 2-0 win over Cagliari at the Giuseppe Meazza. Ze Maria and Obafemi Martins scored for the home side, which moved back five points ahead of Sampdoria for third place. The goal was Ze Maria's first since joining the club last summer.

"A lot of things have been said in the past few days. We were aware of our strength when we came on to the pitch and we tried to continue playing well," Inter captain Javier Zanetti said. "We played an excellent game and we won."

Lazio produced the only road victory Sunday in Serie A with a 2-1 win at Bologna. Massimo Oddo and Tommaso Rocchi helped the visitors erase an early deficit with goals, sending Lazio all the way up to seventh after its second straight win.

In other Serie A action: Brescia defeated Atalanta 1-0 behind a last-gasp penalty by Luigi Di Biagio; Chievo did well to beat Parma 2-0 thanks to goals from Mattia Marchesetti and Federico Cossato; Livorno posted a 2-0 win over visiting Fiorentina after a double by Cristiano Lucarelli.

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